After a winter on a fat bike i knew i wanted to stay with larger volume tires but my back requires a bike with a shock during the summer , so i decided to upgrade my 2014 scalpel to suit my back woods exploration preferences.

Spent a lot of time researching what was going to fit from sites on tire dimensions when inflated, and then waited for the tires that have been in Eurobike shows to come to north america

maxxis chronicle 29 x 3 new – measures 2.9 leaving room on the left – only with severe handle bar torque is there just a slight bit rubbing and those knobs will wear down a bit, bb bracket is now raised a bit and more rake in the fork

I used a die grinder with a sanding disc to take the edge of the corner off a bit of the lefty side of the front , i used white electrical tape in areas to make it easy to see rub marks

nobby nick also did the same , just rounded the edge of the outside knobs to stop frame rubbing on occasion , didn’t seem to effect cornering on rear but the front 3″ i have have to watch banking left hand corners with loose soil or sand .

tire grinding is common in a lot of sports from tractor pull to off road 4×4 so i figured what the heck

overall the large 3″ (16psi) up front makes an amazing difference rolling over roots and and rock gardens , noticing a major difference in its ability to roll of sections of the rocky Bruce Trail while the 2.6 rear (24.5 psi) gives great traction out back